Rocking-chair footrest



Oct. 5, 1943.

E. H. FRANK 2,330,964

ROCKING CHAIR FOOTREST Filed May 16, 1941 INVENTOR. EDWARD hf Fir/1 N/r jig/1&6 $4444! ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 5, 1943 j BerheleyrCalif.

Application 6- "1 cliimh The invention relates/ta rocking chairsl, df particularly to a; means onth jchair'tl for. supper ing thefeet chi-the us'era} An object ofthe invention is to provide, as an attachment to the chair, a means which will serve to support the feet of the user in a manner insuring greater comfort for the user during the rocking motion,

Another object of the invention is to provide an attachment of the character described which may be readily removed and replaced on the rocker or moved from an operative to an inoperative position, or vice versa, on the rocker, with very little effort.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide a means of the character described which will be conformable to the chair structure so that when operatively positioned on the chair it will be assisted by the associated parts of the rocker in insuring the firm and correct position of the attachment on the chair and at the same time give the appearance of a permanent and original part of the rocker.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It; is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claim.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the attachment of my invention as operatively applied to a rocking-chair.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the attachment and associated parts'of the rocker, viewing same from underneath.

Figures 3 and 4*are sectional views of the lower portion of a rocker showing a modified form of the attachment, the lines 3--3 and 44 in the respective figures indicating the section planes.

Figure is a perspective view of a further modified form of the attachment.

In the use of the conventional rocking-chair, the occupant is ordinarily required to rest his feet directly and entirely upon the floor, ground, or other surface upon which the chair is disposed. While the contact of the feet makes it easy for the occupant to maintain the rocker in motion, it prevents the full relaxation of the legs. On the other hand, the occupant may readily keep the chair in motion by a slight movement S r a -N 93,7 6. .(ct resents)- r ore. bod that is without necessarily having; hisfe'etih contactjjwith' the floor, etc. v I-Ioweten' i' fi ti 'a m nom r. the ock r in" ch at' r nfanner, the occupant is usually required to main: tain his feet in suspended position and thus again he is unable to obtain complete comfort. I have found that by simply positioning a plate across the rocker bars at the front of the chair, upon which the occupant may rest his feet and so allow the latter to swing with the rest of the body, the occupant may completely relax and readily rock the chairin full comfort.

In accordance with my invention this plate is preferably arranged for support directly upon the rocker bars andfor positioning in front of 1 the from; legs of the chair. As shown in Figure 1 of the drawing, the plate is preferably made in the form of a flat strip, conveniently of wood and of a length such that it may extend across and rest upon the upper side 3 of the rocker bars 4 of the chair 6. on the under-side I of the plate are provided cleats 8 which are positioned to engage the inner sides 9 of the bars'so that the plate may be firmlyheld on the bars against transverse displacement thereon. To keep the plate from being displaced longitudinally of the bars, the former is provided on its bottom with cleats [2 which are positioned to seat in recesses [3 extending transversely across the top of the bars. cleats 8 and I2 engage the bars simultaneously and therefore serve to firmly hold the plate in proper. position, particularly when the occupants feet rest thereon. It should be noted that the Y attaching means for the plate are located entirely on the under side thereof, thereby not only leaving exposed surfaces of the plate free from obstructions, but completely concealing the means of attachment. At the same time in view of the readily detachable nature of the .plate if the occupant at any time prefers to use the chair without the plate, the latterniay be readily lifted off and removed from the bars'so as'to leave the chair'in the conventional form.

The plate may be of any desired width; however it is most expedient to limit the width to the space availablev between the front legs and the front end of the rocker bars. Where a wider plate is preferred, it is preferable that the bars be correspondingly extended beyond the legs so as to insure a firm support for the plate.

In Figures 3 and 4, I have shown a somewhat modified form of the invention. In this embodiment, the plate 2 is in the form of a sliding member positioned between the bars and mount- As will be understood, the

ed atits ends in guides 2| positioned on the inner side of the bars. The rest member 2 may be moved longitudinally of the bars from an inoperative position intermediate the ends of the bars are formed with transverse extensions 23 so as to 7 provide a better bearing for the member in the guides.

In Figure 5, I have shown a further modiflcation of the invention. In this embodiment the plate 2" is arranged to rest upon the frontend portions of the rocker bars, but is designed to be secured and held in place by anchorage to the front legs of the chair. As shown in the drawin'g,spring clamps 2-1 areliixed to the rear, side ofthe' plate; and formed so that they be inserted around and clampedto'the lower end portion of the legs. Desirably a bolt 26 with a wing nut 21 is provided on each of the clamps so as to permit firm attachment to the legs. It is to be noted that with this form of the invention, no parts need be permanently secured to the rocker.

I claim:

A footrest attachment; for rocking chairs having spaced rocker-bars with portions extending beyond the front legs of the chair, comprising a cross member extending between said bars and resting thereupon forwardly of said legs, and means on the under side of said member coacting with said bars for releasably holding said member on the bars against longitudinal and transverse movement relative thereto said means including'transverse projections and projectionreceiving recessed portions engaged by said projections between said cross member and bars, so

as to hold the'member against relative longitudinalmovement on the bars, and said means including cleats on said member engaging the side of saidbars for holding the member against relative transverse movement on the bars.

EDWARDH. FRANK. 

